No spark...help!!!!

Ok, at long last I have finished my flinter rifle. I tried to shoot it today and no spark......nuthin. Here are the facts.

It's a small siler I got complete from TOW

I'm using cut flints, secured with lead sheet.

It sparked....slightly, for like the first 3 or 4 cycles then quit.

I tried bevel up and down and moving the flint forward and back in the jaws.

I was wiping the flint edge after each shot and I tried multiple flints.

The flint, when fired, was gouging scrapes on the frizzen like it was a graver.

My immediate assumption in light of the gouging of the frizzen and the initial sparks is that I somehow got a frizzen that was not hardened or not completely hardened. I have ordered some Kasenit (and knapped flints) and will have it Thursday. Gonna try to polish and harden the face on Thursday. If that get's it going I'll sight in and familiarize myself on Friday and leave Saturday instead. Otherwise I'll take the Kodiak dbl.

If I were'nt trying to get it going in time to leave on swamp safari Friday I would pack it up and send it to Chambers

Is there anything else I should be checking or looking into?

Try some real flints, not the cut agate.

Right on, try some knapped flints. Also, you might see if you can easily cut/scratch the frizzen with a file. If so, then it's too soft, and the kasenit will help.

For starters just order some Tom Fuller black english flints off of track of the wolf.

Ditto on the real flint suggestion...... Also the small siler locked guns I've had seemed to be a little more touchy to flint position and orientation than the larger locks but when set properly would spark great with black English and French amber flints.
Don't care for cut agate at all.....a good sharp flint hitting where it should, should cure the "Problem".

It's the agate flint. Get rid of it! Then get some of Rich Pierce's white Missouri chert flints and watch out... those flints will scare ya!

(Don't forget that flinters want real black powder only.)

luie b said:

For starters just order some Tom Fuller black english flints off of track of the wolf.

Click to expand...

They're coming in the same box as the Kasenit.

Thanks all.

I'm using Goex FFg and FFFFG prime, btw

As the others have said, it is probably the agate "flint" that is at fault.

If you really want to test your locks frizzen before going further with your quest get a small metal cutting flat file and try to file the edge of the frizzen just a bit.

With a light to medium pressure the file should 'skid' on the frizzen leaving a light polished look. It should not cut into the metal because the frizzen should be just about the same hardness as the file.

If the frizzen is soft, Kasenit is only a short term solution. Don't quench it in water. There is a good chance it may break. Siler frizzens are 1095 steel. Use warmed canola oil. Temper at 375°.

If it were my lock I'd send it back to TOW and let them fix it seeing you've got another gun to use. Sometimes a Siler lock isn't made by Chambers but by some other assembler who used a Chambers' kit. Also...if you tamper w/ it, will TOW honor the warranty? As was said...Kasenit is a very temporary fix.....Fred

Get rid of the Cut flints. Only rarely do they spark well, because the agate is Not cut along the rock's normal fracture lines. When an English flint is Knapped to its shape, rather than "cut", the process of knapping takes use of the flint's normal fracture lines. That makes them spark much easier and more reliably. You can buy English flints( Tom Fuller), or buy American Flints made and sold By Rich Pierce, a member of this forum. Rich lives in St. Louis, and makes his gunflints from Chert. His prices are attractive. The flints work well provided, as always with flintlocks, that the lock is properly tuned.

Chambers stands behind their locks, so if you don't like how the lock is working, contact them( Jim, and his daughter, Barbie). You can send it back, and Jim will see that you get back a lock that works properly.

Not a good sign that the frizzen was being gouged after onlt thhree or four firings. Sounds soft.

Zonie said:

If you really want to test your locks frizzen before going further with your quest get a small metal cutting flat file and try to file the edge of the frizzen just a bit.

Click to expand...

File?????

I can scratch it with my cheap pocket knife.

I know the kasenit probably is'nt a permanent solution and that, if I had time, TOW would fix it (they offered already) I'm just being stubborn about wanting to take it next weekend. lol


As i said, knapped flints are on the way with the kasenit. So that'll be solved as well.

If for some reason I can't get good spark out of this frizzen with the Kasenit I'l get another frizzen from Chambers or TOW. In the grand scheme of things, compared to what is spent just to be able to get away and go hunting anyway risking voiding a warranty and having to pony up for a new frizzen is no big deal.


I wonder if I could get a good spark by TIG welding a hard surfacing onto the frizzen face? How PC would that be???? haha

I don't think that is entirely unusual with cut agate flints. However, I do agree that its not expected with a Siler lock.

Without seeing a picture of the lock, to know how the flint is mounted, I think we are only guessing, however. If any flint strikes the face of the frizzen too square, rather than at a 60 degree angle of Impact, you can get gouging. Small locks, Siler or not, require real knowledge and discipline in how the flint is mounted in the jaws, how long a flint is that is used in a particular lock, etc., IMHO. They simply are not as forgiving as larger locks can be. :hmm: :thumbsup:

Why not simply order a replacement frizzen from Chambers, and have it in a couple of days? If the frizzen in the lock you NOW have is too soft, all the kasenit in the world is Not going to help it. If you don't have a lot of experience using Kasenit, you may only make matters worse.

Jim Chambers has owned the Siler lock business now for years. If there is a quality control issue with any of the parts, particularly your frizzen, then he needs to know about it. I would send it to him to fix or replace, rather than touch this frizzen with Kasenit.

Just from a relative newbie's experience, get rid of the cut agate stuff and go with english or Rich's flints. In my short history in this stuff, I learned to forget the cut agate stuff. Also you might try a fine sand paper (plumber's paper) and swipe it a couple of times on the frizzen. The frizzen surfacs may be too smooth to actuate any sparking.

I wouldn't worry about the Kasenit. If the frizzen is Chambers (1095) you don't need it, just reharden or get a new one from Chambers/send the lock back and have it checked/repaired. I understand wanting to use the darn thing though. Hopefully the knapped flint will help.

Knapped flints are what you want. They should also strike the frizzen at around a 60 degree angle and not straight on. If nothing works, send it back to Chambers; he will stand behind his products.

Ok. A little while ago I remembered that I got a 3 pack of old/antique bess flints from TOW the last time I ordered from them. I took one and with my less than dismal knapping skills I got a usable flint.

thing sparks like a big zippo lighter now. Still marks the frizzen a bit, but it poofed in the pan 25 times in a row. So it looks like we're in bidness. Time to get to sightin in!

Pork will hit the ground!!

OK, just did the Kasenit treatment on the frizzen and WOW. It's like a sparkler now!

We're in bidness